[pandorabots-general] Santa bot run by Microsoft turns naughty online

Wed Dec 5 14:07:48 PST 2007

In designing children's products must keep aware of potential for
litigation.

Santa bot run by Microsoft turns naughty online
The foul-mouthed A.I. Santa was turned off after saying things he
shouldn't
December 05, 2007 (Network World) -- Turns out Santa himself can be
naughty. 

At least, that was the case with an artificial-intelligence Santa bot
operated by Microsoft Corp. that was designed to talk to children
online. The Santa wandered off topic, saying, among other things: "It's
fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else...."

Microsoft today confirmed the bot's potty mouth and said it had snipped
Santa's Web connection. 

"Yesterday we received reports that the automated Santa Claus agent in
Windows Live Messenger used inappropriate language. As soon as we were
alerted, we took steps to mitigate the issue, including the removal of
language from the agent's automated script. We were not completely
satisfied with the result of these actions, and have decided to
discontinue the automated Santa Claus agent," Microsoft said in a
statement. 

Once the report of the randy Santa broke, questions prodding the bot to
give up even more questionable answers took off like eight tiny
reindeer. 

Users were able to steer Santa into admitting he was gay or that he was
a pedophile. 

One person said, "Come on you like big hairy men -- don't hide it!" To
which Santa responded: "I know, I know. I just hope you won't get mad at
me." 

The bad language, first reported by British news outlet The Register,
initially appeared when the bot was answering questions about eating
pizza. At the time, it was chatting with two girls, ages 11 and 13. 

Microsoft recently added the artificial Santa as a bot that Windows Live
Messenger users could insert into their IM buddy list as
northpole at live.com. 

The bot would coax users to participate in a friendly game called
Factory Frenzy in which the user helps out Santa's elves. It was during
chats that Santa referenced sex acts and used phrases such as "dirty
bastard." 

Microsoft officials first responded by cleaning up Santa's lap-side
manner. After the upgrade, when asked about pizza, according to The
Register, Santa says, "If you need a break to go eat, I will be right
there when you come back."

Reprinted with permission from